Annotated Presentation GROUP 4 GRCC BA 200 HEIDI SCHUMACHER - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Williams v. Phillip Morris Annotated Presentation GROUP 4 GRCC BA 200 HEIDI SCHUMACHER JESSICA SMITH SAMBATH SAM JOHN STERNE QIU HAO

Facts  For 47-years Jesse Williams smoked Philip Morris cigarettes, primarily its Marlboro brand, eventually developing a habit of smoking three packs a day.  Jesse Williams was highly addicted to cigarettes both physically and mentally. He spent half his waking hours smoking.  At the urging of his wife and children, Jesse Williams made several attempts to stop smoking. Each time he failed.

Facts  When his family told him that cigarettes were dangerous to his health, he replied, “ The cigarette companies would not sell them if they were dangerous .” When one of his sons tried to get him to read articles about the threats of smoking, he responded by finding public assertions that smoking cigarettes was harmless.  When Williams discovered he had inoperable lung cancer he felt deceived, stating “ Those darn cigarette people finally did it, they were lying all the time .”  Jesse Williams died six months after his diagnosis.

Facts is achieved by making complicated or Trial Court abstract information  Jesse Williams widow, Mayola Williams, brought this tort* case against meaningful by providing Philip Morris for negligence** and fraud*** claiming that a 40-year publicity campaign by Philip Morris and the tobacco industry undercut examples, illustrations, published concerns about the dangers of smoking. analogies, or metaphors.  Williams also claimed that Philip Morris had known for most of the last forty years that smoking was dangerous, and nevertheless, tried to create in the public mind the impression that there were legitimate reasons to doubt the hazards of smoking.  At trial, the jury ruled in favor of Mayola Williams on both counts of negligence and fraud. *Tort: a wrongful act that results in injury to another’s person, property, reputation, or the like, and for which the juried party is entitled to compensation **Negligence: Failure to exercise the care that a reasonably prudent person would exercise in like circumstances. ***Fraud: Deception of another person to obtain money or property.

Facts  As to the negligence claim, the jury ruled that Jesse Williams and Philip Morris shared fifty-fifty responsibility and declined to award any damages.  As to the fraud claim the jury ruled, “Philip Morris and the tobacco industry intended to deceive smokers like Williams, and it did in fact deceive him.” Furthermore, the jury found that Philip Morris’s public relations campaign had precisely the effect Philip Morris intended to have and that it affected large numbers of tobacco consumers in Oregon other than Williams.

Fact  The jury concluded that between the 1950s and the 1990s, Philip Morris developed and promoted an extensive campaign to counter the effects of negative scientific information on smoking cigarettes. Philip Morris did not directly refute the scientific information that cigarettes were linked to lung cancer as well as other health risks; rather tried to find ways to create doubts about it. For example, in the 1950s- 1960s Philip Morris’s officials told the public that they would “stop business tomorrow” if they believed that its products were harmful.

Facts Describing specific details of a concept adds For the fraud charge the jury awarded $ 821,485.20 to Williams in compensatory damages. Compensatory damage is  Compensatory damage is an amount of money that the court believes will restore a person to the position they were in before the defendant’s conduct caused injury. This includes. . .  Money for past, present and future medical expenses.  Money for past, present and future lost wages.  Money for pain and suffering the plaintiff may have gone through.

Correctly introducing the parties, Facts explaining the circumstances, stating Procedural history the facts, and exploring the cases  For the fraud charge the jury also awarded $79,500,000 to Williams in punitive damages. procedural history demonstrate the details. . . element of  Punitive damages are intended to punish and deter the defendant from repeating the mistake and keep others from ever making them. 1 st . When motion was initiated  The jury’s award did not stand. The judge reduced the 2 st . Trial Courts finding compensatory damages to $500,000. The trial court also concluded that the $79.5 million punitive damage award was “excessive under federal standards,” 3 nd . Basis of appeal reducing the punitive damages to $32 million. 4 th . Appellate Court ruling  Both Williams and Philip Morris appealed to the Oregon State Appellate Court. 5 th . Foundation of appeal 6 th . Supreme Court decision

Point of View Mayola Williams :  From Mayola Williams’ point of view Philip Morris had been convicted of perpetuating one of the longest lasting fraud campaigns in American History.  Moreover Mayola Williams believes Philip Morris shares a significant responsibility for the loss of her husband, their children’s loss of a father, their grandchildren’s loss of a loving grandfather, and that the $79.5 million award would be a small price to pay in comparison to her family’s grief.

Point of View The plaintiff and defendants points Philip Morris: of view are only two pieces of a much larger pie. refers  From Philip Morris’s view the reduced punitive award was still grossly excessive. They argue the 64-to-1 ratio of to the ability to see beyond one’s punitive damages to compensatory damages self in order to recognize multiple punitive 32,000,000 = 64 ratio views. For example, how might we compensatory 500,000 1 view a case from an economic,  was out of line with the courts long standing history of political, environmental, moral, restricting punitive damages to no more than a single digit multiplier or 9-to-1 ratio. religious, conservative, or liberal  Furthermore in Philip Morris’s view there was a significant point of view. likelihood that a portion of the $32 million award represented a punishment for having harmed others, a punishment the Fourteenth Amendment forbids.

Point of View Tobacco Industry:  According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture an estimated 371 billion cigarettes were consumed in the United States alone in Adding interesting (relevant) details from outside the text 2006. book such as facts, figures, articles, or statistics are good strategies you could use to, not only add depth, but also  The Department of Commerce, Bureau of credibility. Economic Analysis reported that the total expenditures on tobacco products in the United States were estimated to be $88.8 billion in 2005, of which $82 billion was spent on cigarettes .

Point of View  According to the Hoover corporation, a corporate analyst firm, the total reported company revenue for the five largest cigarette companies were as follows: Altria Group Inc. (parent company of Philip Morris USA), $10.4 billion [2005]; Reynolds American Inc., $1.2 billion [2006]; Loews Corporation (parent company of Carolina Group which owns Lorillard), $2.49 billion [2006]; Houchens Industries (parent company of Commonwealth Brands), $2.36 billion [2005]; and Vector Group Ltd. (parent company of Liggett), $52.4 million [2005].

Point of View  Hoover also reported that Altria Group Inc. ranked 20th, Loews 145th, and Reynolds American Inc. 280th, on the Fortune 500 list of the largest corporations in the United States in 2006.  Certainly these companies are very interested in the outcome of this case, and are hoping the courts rule that punitive damages in excess of the 9-to-1 ratio are deemed unconstitutional.

Point of Views Social Costs

Point of Views  Diseases caused by smoking  Cancer  Periodontitis

Point of Views  Mouth cancer  Throat cancer

Point of Views

Point of Views must be Plaintiff  Additionally, the Center for Disease Control (CDC) reports that demonstrated in points the total economic costs associated with cigarette smoking is estimated at $7.18 per pack of cigarettes sold in the United of view by connecting Defendant State. The average price of cigarettes in the U.S. is $4.26. the differing perspectives  The CDC also found that deaths related to smoking results in Industrial 5.5 million years of life lost in the United States annually. with the arguments,  Smoking has an effect on every person in America, financially concepts, or class as a by having to pay a share of medical costs associated with Social smoking, and many times personally by losing a loved one. whole .  From a social perspective this case not only represents Jesse Williams, but a growing movement to hold tobacco companies Judicial responsible for the costs and harm smoking causes. Many believe a high punitive damage award would send that message. You must show five points of view.

Facts Oregon Court of Appeals:  The Oregon Court of Appeals reversed the trial courts ruling which lowered punitive damages, and reinstated the $79.5 million award.  Philip Morris appealed to the Oregon Supreme Court where the court denied review.